Modern applicant tracking systems (ATS) are a huge asset for recruiters. They make life easier by automating all the manual and repetitive tasks, like adding resumes, tracking job closure status, managing candidate submissions, certain email communications, and interview scheduling.
However, an applicant tracking system cannot truly leverage automation and make processes efficient for recruiters on its own. An ATS needs to be integrated with other enterprise apps and systems recruiters would already be using to provide the most benefit.
What integrations should your ATS have to give you an edge as a competitive recruiter? Ideally, an ATS should integrate with:
- Job boards
- Your current HR software
- Social media platforms
- Email and communication apps
- Your website
1. Job boards
With the emergence of job boards like Monster, Glassdoor, LinkedIn Jobs, and Indeed, candidates can find relevant jobs with a quick search. So, how do you ensure that you get the attention of the potential candidates for your jobs? Post your job listings on all of the most relevant job sites quickly by integrating your ATS with multiple job boards. Publish the job in your ATS‚Äîand if your ATS integrates well with the jobs boards‚Äîthe jobs will publish there automatically. This means you don’t have to publish listings on all these job boards individually, saving you time and headache. Also read: 8 Best Job Listing Sites for Employers2. HR software
Technology plays a critical role when it comes to recruiting the right candidates. If your ATS system isn’t part of a larger HR software suite, you need to make sure that it will integrate with one. HR software platforms often include payroll, learning management, and employee engagement features that help you continue recruiting even after you’ve filled open positions. By integrating your ATS with your existing HR software, you can automatically add new hires to payroll and get them started with their training. This creates a more seamless onboarding experience and removes any roadblocks that might lead to frustration for your new employee. Not only are new hires with a bad onboarding experience twice as likely to look for other opportunities, but they’re also less likely to refer their friends and family to apply. Also read: Best HR Software for Small Business 20213. Social media platforms
Not only is social media a great place for recruiters to post jobs, but many candidates also use it to research a company’s culture before they apply or accept a job. In fact, 62 percent of job seekers said they’ve used social media to scope out a company’s brand and culture. This statistic shows that social media recruiting has become an integral part of the recruitment process. But without integrating social media tools directly with an ATS, you won’t be able to identify, attract, engage, and hire talented candidates, especially passive candidates. By integrating social media marketing platforms like Buffer and Hootsuite with your ATS, you can efficiently post jobs on different social media channels in one go. Also, you can take advantage of analytics to track which social media platform performs better and focus your efforts there.4. Email and other communication apps
Email communication is crucial to the hiring process. Every ATS facilitates email communication, but what if the emails you send to candidates from your ATS also showed up in your Gmail account in sent items? What if the emails you sent directly to candidates from your Gmail account also get recorded in your ATS? This is only possible if your ATS is integrated with Gmail. An integration like this would be a blessing if Gmail is your primary means of email communication. For mass mailing campaigns, you need to connect your ATS with email marketing software to make sure your mass mailers deliver properly. Without these tools, it would be impossible to send out the hundreds of thousands of emails needed to source candidates for your job openings. Along with emailing potential candidates, you’ll also need the ability to share candidate information with members of your hiring team that don’t have access to your ATS. For this, it helps if your ATS integrates with collaboration apps like Slack, so you can quickly send resumes and other pertinent information to the appropriate people.5. Your website
If you post jobs on your company website, your ATS needs to be able to access that candidate information. With many ATS systems, you can add a widget to your site to pull that data, which is much less complicated than completely re-coding your site to accommodate it. When choosing an ATS, make sure that’s an option for your site. Not only does integrating your ATS with your website simplify hiring for your HR team, but it also makes it easier for interested candidates to find out more about available positions. If quality candidates don’t have to search all over the internet to figure out how they can work for your company, they’re more likely to apply.Choosing the right integrations for your ATS
Integrations make your ATS a complete software that uses the full potential of your favorite apps and tools you anyway use during the course of your work. When you shop for an ATS system, make sure to review the integrations carefully, as more doesn’t always mean better. Your ATS should have integrations that you can use. Otherwise, it would be as bad as not having any integrations at all. To find the right applicant tracking system for your business, use our ATS software category page. After taking a short survey, you’ll get a list of products tailored to your company’s needs.Top Applicant Tracking Software Recommendations
